Defending champion Creamline turned back gritty Choco Mucho, 25-22, 25-20, 30-32, 25-20, to stay unbeaten in three starts in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Tuesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Cool Smashers regrouped in the fourth set after falling short in a furious third frame fightback from eight points down to remain unscathed for a share of the lead with Cignal.

Creamline mentor Sherwin Meneses praised his wards for staying composed despite the Flying Titans’ second wind after yielding the first two sets.

"Of course, Choco [Mucho] won’t just go down without a fight. We know they can comeback in the game any time. So I told my players to just enjoy the game and perform well to win the game. Let’s not give in to pressure,” Meneses said.

“The players responded positively. We played a lot of rallies in the game rallies so it also became a battle of endurance."

Jema Galanza showed the way for the Cool Smashers with 24 points off 22 kills, one ace and a kill block while tallying 17 excellent receptions and nine digs.

Michele Gumabao smashed 19 of her 22 points off kills and also had three kill blocks, Bea De Leon added 10 markers while Kyle Negrito dished out 21 excellent sets to set up Creamline in unleashing 70 attack points.

De Leon and Galanza teamed up in a 4-1 run to break a 16-16 deadlock. A 5-3 closing run ended the two-hour, 32-minute match as Creamline won 16 of its 17 head-to-head meetings against Choco Mucho since 2019.

The Cool Smashers erased a 13-21 deficit in the third frame behind Galanza’s scorching assault before skipper Alyssa Valdez pounded back-to-back kills to push Creamline at match point, 25-24.

The Cool Smashers had four more match point advantages with Galanza scoring for a 30-29 count.

Sisi Rondina tied it at 30. Gumabao’s spike went straight to the net on the next play before Rondina sealed the set with a kill block.    

Rondina finished with 24 points off 22 kills and two kill blocks to go with 11 excellent receptions to lead the Flying Titans, who dropped their second straight game for a 2-3 card. Nunag got 10 markers.